1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for moving a cursor when an interpretation report is being created.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nowadays, accompanied by upgraded medical acts, the diagnoses of patients are divided into different levels, and a specialist is involved at each level. In general, an image diagnosis is conducted procedurally as follows: image diagnosis request, image collection, interpretation, and determination of the treatment policy.
For an image diagnosis request, a request form is submitted to a radiography department from the department requesting an examination such as the department of internal medicine. The request form includes the following items: the ID number of the patient, the patient's name, date of birth, sex, name of the department requesting the examination, name of the doctor requesting the examination, modality of the examination, subject of the examination, method of examination, purpose of the examination, and clinical information. In image collection, an examining technologist collects images as per the content of the request form. In the interpretation, an interpreting doctor interprets the collected images and summarizes the result in an interpretation report. The interpretation report includes information such as the findings of the interpreting doctor and his conclusions. To determine the treatment policy, a doctor in charge determines the treatment policy based on the interpretation report.
A medical image interpreting apparatus is used for interpretation and to electronically create an interpretation report (e.g., cf. “Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-31719”). A medical image obtained as part of the image collection is obtained and displayed on a monitor, and at the same time, a sheet of the interpretation report is displayed. The interpreting doctor inputs the necessary items on the sheet of the interpretation report.
The medical image interpreting apparatus is composed of a computer having a plurality of monitors, and a keyboard or a pointing device that is used as for a man-machine interface. The plurality of monitors have a common two-dimensional coordinate plane and are composed of a monitor for displaying an interpretation report, a monitor for a thumbnail-display of a medical image, and a monitor for an enlarged display of one medical image. A mouse cursor is displayed on the common two-dimensional coordinate plane. The interpreting doctor moves the mouse cursor to the desired position on a desired monitor for interpretation and creation of the report while performing the necessary work at that position.
For example, by moving a mouse cursor onto a medical image that displays as thumbnails, one medical image is selected for the enlarged display on a separate monitor. The mouse cursor is moved onto the medical image that has been enlarged and displayed for interpretation while adjusting the contrast, enlarging/reducing the size, and so forth. The mouse cursor is then returned to the interpretation report for writing the findings in the interpretation report. By moving the mouse cursor again to the medical image that has been enlarged and displayed, the medical image is dragged and dropped to a character string on the interpretation report to set a hyperlink. The interpreting doctor repeats the routine several times for interpretation and creation of the interpretation report while reciprocally moving the mouse cursor a number of times onto the interpretation report, the thumbnailed medical images, and the medical image that has been enlarged and displayed.
The burden of moving the mouse cursor can disrupt the interpretation and creation of the interpretation report. Consequently, concern about a possible deterioration of the interpreting efficiency or interpretation mistakes is now being addressed. Particularly, for the monitor that displays a medical image, it takes more effort to move the mouse cursor, because a monitor capable of hi-resolution display is often used.